Football
2018 AFC Champions League, Group Stage
SIPG 
4
FT
 MVC
1
Australian Associated Press 6y

Oscar stars as Shanghai SIPG thrash Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory have been outgunned in their Asian Champions League encounter with Shanghai SIPG, losing 4-1 to the Chinese giants.

Ex-Chelsea ace Oscar struck twice in the pouring rain at Shanghai Stadium to keep the club's winning record in this year's tournament intact.

Besart Berisha replied from the spot but earlier goals from Hulk and Wu Lei ensured there would be no upset for the A-League side.

Put simply, Victory were outclassed. SIPG's Brazilians had the ball on a string and, soon enough, in the net.

Kevin Muscat's side pledged to attack their highly rated opponents and went forward early in the hope of catching them on the hop.

Their best chances fell to an offside Berisha, whose timing appeared out all night.

It wouldn't have been unfair for Victory to take an early lead, but instead they fell behind in cruel circumstances.

Wu's cross struck Jason Geria's hand from point-blank range on 27 minutes, with the referee pointing to the spot.

Hulk made no mistake to begin a spell of dominance from last year's ACL semifinalists.

Wu put himself on the scoresheet as half-time loomed, beating Geria to Wang Shenchao's cross with a superb diving header.

Victory were further behind 70 seconds after the restart when Oscar turned and struck past Lawrence Thomas at the near post with the help of a deflection off Carl Valeri.

Still, Victory toiled and eventually they were rewarded from their own penalty, awarded for handball when Yu Hei couldn't deal with Rhys Williams' header from a Leroy George corner.

Berisha's goal brought only temporary respite as Oscar ran around Thomas Deng and curled home 10 minutes later to finalise their emphatic scoreline.

The loss makes it difficult to see a path out of the group for Victory.

They sit third, three points behind South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai, and one point above J.League champions Kawasaki Frontale.

Ulsan defeated Kawasaki 2-1 in matchday two's other clash on Tuesday night.

Victory are next in ACL action against the Japanese side on March 7, the loser virtually ensuring their elimination from the showpiece tournament.

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